Flat-coated Retriever

The occiput (the bone at the back of the skull) is not to be accentuated (as it is in setters, for example) with the head flowing smoothly into a well-arched neck.

Part of its ancestry is thought to have come from stock imported from North America from the now extinct St. John's water dog, but this is unverified.

Canadian seafarers are thought to have brought Newfoundlands to British ports, and they factored into the ancestry of the Flat-Coated Retriever.

Collie-type dogs may have been added to increase the breed's trainability along with the Newfoundland for strength and Setter blood for enhanced scenting ability.

Vbos The Kentuckian' (aka Jet), a 9.5-year-old Flat-Coated Retriever from South Queensferry, near Edinburgh, Scotland, won Best in Show at Crufts.

Almanza Backseat Driver’, a 6-year-old liver flat-coated retriever from Oslo Norway, won the Best in Show.

A 2024 UK study found a life expectancy of 11.7 years for the breed compared to an average of 12.7 for purebreeds and 12 for crossbreeds.

[10] A health survey of purebred dogs in the UK from 2004 showed approximately 50% of Flat-Coated Retrievers death were due to some form of cancer.

Flat-Coated Retriever holding a gun dog dummy.
A male 7-year-old Flat Coated Retriever
Black is the most common colour, but Flat-Coated Retrievers also occur in liver (dark brown) and yellow, although yellow is not allowed by the breed standard.
Flat-Coated Retrievers love water.
A Flat-Coated Retriever after swimming
A typical Flat-Coated Retriever expression